Critical Weekend Ahead for Softball vs. Butler
4/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2014
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Although Seton Hall currently sits in a tie for second place in the BIG EAST standings, with two weeks remaining in the regular season the race for the final three BIG EAST Tournament berths is far from decided and the Pirates will host the Butler Bulldogs in a critical series this Saturday-Sunday, April 26-27, at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field. Prior to Saturday's doubleheader Seton Hall will celebrate Senior Day, honoring Jen Metzger, Maria DeLuca and Meredith Henze. The series finale will take place Sunday at 12 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
After winning both games of a doubleheader at Villanova on Monday afternoon the Pirates had a sweep on their minds but fell to the Wildcats in game three, 4-3. Seton Hall outlasted the Wildcats, 5-4, in nine innings in game one, the first extra-inning game of the year for The Hall, with junior Danielle DeStaso throwing a complete game to pick up her seventh win of the year. The Pirates tallied 14 hits in a 10-2 route in game two, but were unable to come all the way back from a three-run deficit in the series finale, despite a school-record tying two-home run performance from sophomore Alex Rabbetts in the loss.
WHO TO WATCH
SETON HALL: When Danielle DeStaso starts on the mound the Pirates have seen some fluctuation in who stepped in as designated player but sophomore Alex Rabbetts may have solidified that spot with a two-home run performance off Kate Poppe at Villanova on Tuesday afternoon. First baseman Whitney Jones has recorded a base hit in a career-best five-straight games and senior Maria DeLuca has thrived as of late, tallying four extra-base hits in the last four games with three doubles and a triple.
BUTLER: Maria Leichty and Callie Dennison were both named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for their contributions in helping the Bulldogs pick up a series win at Georgetown last weekend. Leichty homered twice and hit .667 with five RBI's to pace Butler offensively. Dennison, making just her second and third starts of the season, won twice and posted a 2.16 ERA.
SCOUTING BUTLER
The Bulldogs enter this weekend's series just a half game behind Seton Hall and Georgetown for second place in the conference and Butler is 3-3 over its last six BIG EAST games, dropping 2-of-3 at Villanova two weeks ago before bouncing back to win a series at Georgetown last weekend. Butler sits in the middle of the pack in most major BIG EAST offensive and pitching statistical metrics, ranking fourth in the league in batting (.255) and fifth with a 3.53 ERA. Individually, Sarah Gronowski leads the Bulldogs with a .307 average while Kristin Gutierrez is 12-10 in the mound with a 2.77 ERA.
FUTURE SCHEDULE
Prior to wrapping up BIG EAST play next weekend at Georgetown the Pirates will host Stony Brook for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 30, at 3 p.m. The final regular season series with the Hoyas will take place May 3-4, in Washington, D.C.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSIS
Although just two weeks remain in the BIG EAST regular season the race for the final three spots is still too close to call. With an unblemished conference mark of 13-0 DePaul has clinched the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament, but six teams are still in the running for the other three spots. Seton Hall (8-7) leads Butler (7-7) by just a half game. Elsewhere in the league, Creighton (6-8) travels to St. John's (7-7) and Georgetown (8-7) hosts Providence (3-11).
DAILY DOUBLE
Sophomore Alex Rabbetts tied a Seton Hall softball record, belting a pair of home runs at Villanova on April 22. The two home runs tied the program single-game record and she was just the 13th player in program history to homer twice in the same game. The last two home run occurrence came just last season when Sara Haefeli hit two out of the park at Saint Peter's.
DOUBLE VISION
With three doubles in the series at Villanova senior Maria DeLuca moved into a tie for 10th place on the Seton Hall single-season doubles list with 10 in 2014. For her career, DeLuca has tallied 23 doubles, which ranks 11th in program history, leaving her just one double shy of tying Jenna Best for 10th place at Seton Hall.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
Seton Hall had arguably its best offensive game of the season in its 10-2 win over Villanova on April 21. The Pirates tied their season-best effort with 14 base hits, although they were the most against a BIG EAST opponent this year. It was just the third time the Pirates scored 10 runs in a game , trailing only the 13 against UMass Lowell and 11 in a win over Providence.
CLOSE CALLS
Heading into this weekend's series with Butler, Seton Hall has seen eight of its last 11 games decided by just two runs or fewer, with two of the three games at Villanova earlier in the week being decided by just one run. The Pirates are 4-5 in one-run games and 3-2 in contests decided by two runs this season.
STRONG OUTING
Junior Casey Moses dominated in a 10-2 win at Villanova on April 21, tossing a complete game in her most impressive performance of the season. Moses allowed just one earned run while scattering six hits over seven innings and also struck out three batters to pick up her second win of the year.
